"The Spirit Bare's it's Teeth" (book review/report)

Silas Bell is the protagonist and narrator of “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth.” He has brunette curly hair and a pale complexion, he is often forced to wear feminine clothing despite his desperate want not to, not only because of his true identity but also because of how itchy the clothes make him. Big frilly dresses and skirts, little bows and tight corsets. 
After the epilogue in the “Acknowledgements” section of the book, the author calls him the “first openly autistic protagonist” that he has written. Silas is also a trans and bisexual man who is rebellious, stubborn, anxious, intelligent, honest, caring, and intense with both his emotions and his passions. His passions being: anything medical, Daphne, and the victims that surround him. He’s oddly optimistic despite the constant dire circumstances he finds himself in and refuses to give up, even when the entire world seems to be telling him to. 
But, despite his constant hope there is something that he describes as “a little rabbit in my chest.” It tells him to be a good girl, to obey. It reminds him what will happen if he gets caught doing something he's not supposed to, what people want to do to him, the cruelty people have already put him through. The rabbit echoes vile words that were said to him in the past as if they’re true. The rabbit tries to stop him from being optimistic, stop him from being stubborn, stop him from being honest. Keep him afraid, keep him in line. 
In the second last chapter of the book Silas is given two options from Lord Luckenbill, the father of Silas’s finance (Daphne); ditch the woman that he loves truely, forget his dream of finally being a man and become a good obedient wife, carrying his children or kill his fiance's father. Silas, of course, would never want to marry the bastard but the rabbit thinks differently. Lord Luckenbill tries to convince Silas that marrying him is the superior option, that Silas becoming Lady Luckenbill will guarantee a life of riches, power, and prestige. Silas thinks about the offer from a logical perspective; not many people like him are handed opportunities like this. People like him are shunned away, locked up to never be seen again. This marriage would guarantee that nightmare never happens. The rabbit begs Silas to accept the marriage. The rabbit tells Silas that he’s going to get hurt if he doesn’t, just agree and he’ll shut up, just agree and it’ll all be over. But Silas doesn’t listen. Instead he blurts out what he truly thinks, loud and clear. “I’d rather fuck a rotten corpse than you.” Luckenbill lunges at Silas. The rabbit squeals for Silas to freeze, let him do what he wants, don’t fight back. At this moment Silas needs to fight back. So Silas wraps his hands around the rabbit's throat, the rabbit continues to squeal at Silas to let him do what he wants with us, that he’ll hurt us if we don’t. “DON’T HURT HIM HE’LL HURT YOU.” That's the last words the Silas hears from the rabbit before it stops squealing, before it stops breathing, before it stops living. Silas proceeds to murder Lord Luckenbill.
I love the rabbit metaphor. It’s this abomination of cruel words and acts done or said to Silas. It’s the past haunting him. But Silas is able to kill it. He’s able to move on from the past. Letting himself think about his own future without the input of the people who never cared about his future in the first place. Silas doesn’t take the easy way out like lots of people would or do. He knows what is right and he knows what he deserves and he refuses to have it any other way.
As someone who is queer, born female, and neurodivergent, Silas is an incredibly relatable protagonist. His beliefs and morals are a lot like mine and I’d often catch myself thinking something, turn the page and see that he’s thinking the same thing. I find myself in his strong sense of justice and the intensity of his emotions. Feeling something so strong you have to rock back and forth, tap your foot, or flap your arms.
Silas is well written and with no doubt the best main character for “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth.” This book wouldn't be as good from the perspective of any other character. 

One of the most memorable scenes happens with Silas' older brother, George who taught him everything about being a good doctor. Silas felt like himself around George, he was the one person who he would fidget around, the person that knew he was a boy and his true name, the person who he could feel his emotions around without being seen as overdramatic or disrespectful.

This changes as they grow up. George succumbs to the sexist ideology around him causing a divide between him and Silas. Silas is brought into “Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium”; a school meant to convert women with veil sickness into the “perfect” wife. Being brought into this school he soon finds out about the school’s secret. The girls that misbehave are murdered and dissected. When Silas tells George about this, he doesn’t believe him and tells Silas that he regrets giving him medical knowledge, teaching him about James Barry and calling Silas a “sick girl”. Later Silas is called to a meeting with George. They were in the wife of the headmaster’s; Mrs. Forrester’s bedroom. She was sitting on a chair while George plucked out pieces of glass from her foot. The glass got there because the Headmaster of Braxton Mr. Forrester put glass in her shoes as punishment for not being his perfect wife. George knew this and told Silas that he was to make the removal process as painful as possible, which he did. Silas was to observe this bizarre punishment. 
During this George talks to Silas about the school, how this is a great opportunity for him to recover from the veil sickness. That this was the moral way to handle this “sickness” and Silas is lucky he hasn’t been hanged. George talks to Mrs. Forrester and tells Silas that she’s had such a good time here and has improved so much and that Silas can improve too, if he listens.
Near the end of the book Silas is locked in the cellar where they perform the dissections. Time passes before two surgeons in hazmat suits. He’s seen them before when trying to find out where they kept the dead girls. He described one of them as looking oddly familiar. One of them was talking a lot while the one who was familiar was completely silent. That was until he felt the need to talk, and Silas recognized the voice immediately. It was George, his brother. His brother is a murderer who knew what was directly involved in what was going on and still had the gall to call him a “sick girl”.

This betrayal is peculiar because of how well foreshadowed it is and yet how unpredictable it is. You see how George gets to this point but don’t expect it because of how much Silas trusts George. It’s hard for Silas to believe that his brother that was once so supportive of him is the reason why others like him are dying. Even when you think that George might be one of the surgeons your immediate thought afterwards is no way because there’s no way he’d do that!
Two quotes that stuck out in this book were, “When something terrible happens—or at least, when you learn about it—it feels like it should affect the entire world. It feels like something should change. But it doesn’t” (121.)
It’s weird when you read a book and see someone so personal to yourself reflected in another character. When something bad happens, whether it's a current event or personal, it feels like the whole world should just be as miserable as you. But it’s like everyone gets happier in spite of you. This quote made me more valid, that I wasn't a selfish person, that others think that way too.
“You're not a coward for wanting to live” (195.) 
Safety can feel underserved when it comes at the expense of yourself or someone else, but sometimes it's the option you need to pick for your future. Sometimes you even need to keep secrets or tell lies for your own well being. Whether you're in a dangerous situation or could put yourself in a dangerous situation by being yourself, what is seen as bravery is often risky. As a minority myself as much as I’d love to say I’d never let some stop me from being who I am but there may be a point in time where it would be the smart decision to lie about my identity to prevent being discriminated against.
The epilogue was a satisfying resolution. Mary invited Silas and his wife Daphne to meet up for the anniversary for the destruction of Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium at a place that was anti-speaker, a reminder they're not alone. Another victim, Agnes, was also invited by Mary. Agnes immediately brings up the elephant in the room. George was still out there, should they kill him too? The only complaint I have about the ending is that they made a perfect opening for a sequel despite the author having no intent in making one; but that also leaves what would happen next up for interpretation which is interesting.